Students in the United Kingdom (UK) have an advantage over most students around the world. Having access to past exam papers lets us properly assess the challenge we face at various stages in our education. Whether revising for General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) exams or the advanced levels, we have years of past exams to guide our efforts.
And not just past exam papers. We also have marking schemes that tell us how best to answer each question. We have examiners' reports, too. Those give us the inside track on what examiners expect and how we can do better than previous student cohorts.
The trick is putting these resources to their best uses. That's what Superprof discusses in this article. Specifically, we need to know:
- what the exam is like and how our answers are rated
- where to find these documents
- how to use the wealth of information we have
- what other study resources are available, besides past papers
Imagine stumbling into a testing centre, armed with knowledge, but with no idea how best to apply it. Students in other countries would love to have half the resources we have at our disposal! Now, we must learn how to use them to their maximum benefit.
A Level Psychology Exam Structure & Assessment Details
You're going to sit exams. Considering your long academic career, you might believe you know all about exams and how they go. That's not exactly true. Think of it this way.
A runner is going to participate in a race. They have no idea what type of terrain they'll run on - pavement, rock/gravel, or dirt. They don't know if the course features some uphill running, or even what the weather will be on race day. However, they're experienced runners, so they can handle any challenge.
Runners (and test takers) can try that approach, but their chances of success are minimal. When faced with a challenge, it's always to your advantage to know every possible detail of what your ordeal entails. In that spirit, we examine both sets of exam papers.
(Advanced Subsidiary) AS-Level Papers
Your AS-Level exam comprises two papers. The first tests your knowledge of social influence, memory, and attachment. As you likely know, those are the first three of the eight topics your Psychology course covers.
Your second paper addresses topics four, five, and seven. Those are approaches in psychology, psychopathology, and research methods, in order.
Both papers present a mix of multiple-choice, short-form answer and essay questions. Students have an hour and a half, per paper, to answer up to 20 questions. Roughly 10% of those questions are maths based. Students must apply arithmetic and numbers sense to answer them correctly.
The 2022 AS examiner's report stressed that students had the most difficulty with the essay questions. Specifically, it points out that students failed to answer the question fully, or didn't seem to understand the question. These types of mistakes are common across the years, according to these reports.
(Advanced) A-Level Papers
You will complete three papers for your final exam; they cover all eight of the topics you studied throughout your course. Those topics spread across your papers as follows:
Paper I
- Social influence
- memory
- attachment
- psychopathology
- research methods
Paper II
- Approaches in psychology
- biopsychology
- research methods
Paper III
- Research methods
- issues and debates in psychology
- optional topics
The optional topics refer to specific psychological conditions rather than theoretical knowledge. These cases reflect modern-day states of mental health, including eating disorders, stress, and aggression. You may also discuss psychological illnesses such as schizophrenia and addiction. This table shows the full list of optional topics:
| Option I | Option 2 | Option 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Relationships | Schizophrenia | Aggression |
| Gender | Eating behaviour | Forensic psychology |
| Cognitive development | Stress | Addiction |
Completing Paper III requires you to choose only one from each list of optional topics. The number of questions and available marks is roughly the same across all topics.
According to the 2022 examiner's report, students routinely answered questions for more than one topic per option. This again indicates that students fail to read and follow instructions.
Note that the examiners will not credit extra points for unnecessary answers. Instead, they credit the student with the option that earned them the most points. They will disregard the other optional answers, even if they are correct.
Once you know your key topics and how they're spread across all five papers, you'll have an easier time prioritising how to study. For instance, the 'research' topic spreads across all three of your A-Level exam papers, while 'memory' features on just one. That's a clue that 'research' should take up more of your revision time.
How to Revise With Past Papers
The best way to use past papers is downloading them as soon as your course starts. Many students wait until revision time, just ahead of their exams, to draw on this resource. This tactical error means they have less time to fully exploit these documents.
You might download one series of exams the day your course starts - say, for 2022. Read through them carefully, particularly the examiner's report. Make note of their findings and recommendations; they can serve as a study template. Specifically, you'll highlight what past students did well and what they failed to do.
Reading and understanding instructions is a constant issue, through the years of available papers. Thus, you should make sure you understand each question's full meaning, as well as its intent.
You may keep track of your notes and observations with mind maps. Now that you know how the exam distributes topics across the papers, you might build a map for each topic. You may then enter your notes for each topic into its corresponding mind map.
You should also consider building decks of flashcards, one per topic. You may use card stock and create your decks manually or turn to a platform like Quizlet or Anki. If you have a Quizlet account, you'll find it easy to access already-existing decks for A-Level Psychology.
Finally, consider using past papers to stage mock exams. This exercise will help you manage your time while in the testing room. You'll get a sense of how long it takes for you to answer the three types of questions, and where you should focus your revision efforts.
Where Can I find A Level Psychology Past Papers?
So far, this revision guide covers a lot of ground. The only thing missing is where to find these papers. Your teacher may have already told you to visit your school's exam board website. That is, indeed, the very best place to find past papers, marking schemes and examiners' reports.
However, we have a few more suggestions to offer.
Don't forget to check other exam boards for their Psychology A-Level revision resources. Their past papers will be different from your exam board's, but you can still use other boards' documents for your revision. This gives you a flexibility advantage.
Each exam board presents the same topics, but in different ways. These novel ways of working with the information you have will help cement your knowledge stores. It may also help you see your A-Level Psychology topics from a different perspective. Such insights will give you an edge, come test time.
You may also consider commercial test preparation materials. Some websites offer variations of official past papers to expand students' access to practice questions. These follow the same philosophy as downloading other boards' past papers. The more exposure - and the more variety you have to practice papers, the greater your flexibility in applying your knowledge.
Revision Help: Beyond Past Papers
As noted in this article's introduction, we're already far more privileged than students around the world. We have past papers to help train ourselves to exam conditions. What else could we need?
Think about all those points lost for not following instructions on the exams. Think about all that extra work some students do, answering questions from several optional topics. Think about those who run out of time to check their work before handing their papers in.
Those are all common pitfalls that shave marks off your exams' final results. These and other easily avoided mistakes could mean being barred from your preferred university selection. Should you earn lower marks on your AS-Level papers, you may decide to drop this course, despite your interest. And despite the lucrative and satisfying careers a psychology degree could open up for you.
That's why it's a good idea to engage a private tutor to guide your studies. Such a mentor can introduce you to all of these exams' particulars, so that you're well-prepared. They will also share test-taking strategies and other revision resources. Such might include instructional videos and podcasts, like this one:
With all of this said, your A-Level Psychology curriculum remains the best source of revision materials. Particularly if you took copious notes and organised information as you advanced through your course. Whether you created mind maps or built flashcard decks for each topic, that wealth of information will shape your exam success.
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